Auctioneers

A carving of a deerhound which once adorned a 19th century yacht more than doubled the house record for a figurehead at a Charles Miller auction in west London. The item sold for £52,000 had a royal connection but it was the quality and condition which secured the high price, said Miller.

This finely preserved Roman sports mask of a youthful African prince may depict Lusius Quietus (98- 117AD), one of Rome’s great cavalry commanders.

Godwin Swifte, who styled himself as Lord Carlingford, was a member of one of Ireland’s notable families and a maverick of early flight.

A monogram and faint signature to a botanical study sold at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) revealed it to be the work of celebrated Australian artist Sidney Nolan (1917-92).

Troubling subjects to today’s society as they may be, promotional materials for tobacco, alcohol, chocolates and petrol from the 19th and early 20th centuries remain a popular choice for collectors.

For antiquities aficionados, the pinnacle of Christie’s ‘Classic Week’ in New York was its single-owner offering of 40 exquisitely carved intaglios and cameos hailing from the ancient world.

Hindman Auctioneers, formerly Leslie Hindman, is newly rebranded and has a busy calendar across its six US salerooms this year.

A classic SAS beige beret from the Second World War has sold for what is believed to be a record-breaking £17,500 hammer price.

With ‘on the premises’ country house contents sales now so rare, the more usual practice is for the better pieces to be removed to saleroom bases.

An 1831, third (first illustrated) edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a version that not only contained a new introduction but added a new chapter to that famous work, sold for £2800 in a Norfolk sale.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

This gold ring mounted with an oval intaglio of the Roman god Mars made a multi-estimate £9000 at a sale of jewellery at Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium).